Praises to God for Spring and Beauty

It's been a long spring here in north Georgia, but a very cold one. That's OK, the forsythia, crocuses, robins, dogwood, buds, and grass are all growing pleasantly nonetheless.

I hope this fine spring time has offered you beautiful glimpses of God's creative intellect and His wonderful power. We always enjoy the march of the seasons. "He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down." (Psalm 104:19, KJV). Wherever we are in the world, we see and understand the times and seasons. We look for the robin, the crocus, the ladyslipper. The orderliness and consistency of the seasons since His ordination of them is a comfort. Yet even in Jeremiah 8:7 it is said of the seasons, meaning HIS season, "Yes, the stork in the heaven knows her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD."

In the natural history of Israel, Barnes notes explains,

"Jeremiah appeals to the obedience which migratory birds render to the law of their natures. The "stork" arrives about March 21, and after a six weeks' halt departs for the north of Europe. It takes its flight by day, at a vast height in the air ("in the heaven"). The appearance of the "turtle-dove" is one of the pleasant signs of the approach of spring."

Spring is a time of renewal, refreshing, and new life. There is a bird who builds a nest in my living room windowsill, and soon enough, babies will come along. They chirp so cute, they grow bigger, and then one day they will be gone, and a strange silence will come over the living room.

Is it wonderful to contemplate that the LORD knows the comings and goings of each bird in the world?

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. (Matthew 10:29).

How much more does He care for His own children. How great that He upholds the march of seasons, their orderliness and beauty. The unfurling of a bud, the flowering of a leaf, the business of the insects feasting on the pollen and nectar. How much more should we enjoy His creation, praising Him for all He is and all He does to maintain this beautiful world for His children.